Hello,

Welcome to the world of dance.

Week 1: Photobabbles!


Todays competency is based on adding a Photobabble to your page. This is fun way to "meet" your audience whether they are your students, your students parents, or your fans. In my dance classes I would use the Photobabble to share the course content and perhaps some of the objectives. This Photobabble could be used on my personal website or on the schools course website.

http://www.fotobabble.com/m/eWVqOUpQVkQvRTA9

A Photobabble is also a fun way to give your students quick information...for instance in this photobabble I ask my students to visit a website for their upcoming research project.

http://www.fotobabble.com/m/cjJYZEFSNFZzZGc9

Resources:
www.merce.org
www.fotobabble.com


Week 2: 5 Strategies for Using Wikis in your Classroom


Similarly to this class, I would build a wiki page for my students to read articles on dance or sport. I would then set up discussion boards so that I could monitor their reading and reflections. I would aslo use the wiki to provide homework, notes, resources and videos. For instance, I could upload a video of the skills test or choreography that they are responsible for learning.

In a way school loop and edline provide these tools, however they do not include discussion boards. A discussion board is a nice way to allow controlled technology based socialization. Because this page would be private I could also include photos and videos of the students which can be quite stunning, especially in the world of dance.

http://www.suite101.com/content/5-strategies-for-using-wikis-in-the-classroom-a124331

Resources:
One thing that I would do with my students is have them watch the video "Wikis in Plain English"
http://www.commoncraft.com/video-wikis-plain-english .

This would help them see the reasoning and process for/of a wiki.


Check out my new wiki!

http://helmersdancepage.wikispaces.com/

Week 3: How to Conduct Virtual Field Trips!


This is a nice option for the arts. In my dance classes I would use a virtual field trip to show my students different performances, studios, and theaters. Now with the use of the internet my students can see original dances that made significant contributions to the world. This is meaningful for my students because live performances can often be expensive and difficult to come by. For example Alvin Aliey's piece "Revelations" made huge contributions for the African American communites of the US. This piece was so significant for dancers, African Americans, and choreographers. By sending my students on a virtual field trip to see this performance, I would enable my students the opportunity to see a piece that rarely comes to the Bay Area, and when it does ticket prices can be astronomical.
What is even more important, and in my mind beautiful, is that on this virtual field trip I could take them through Alvin Ailey's biography, contributions, company, school, and pieces.
Here is the order in which I would send my students.

Resources:

Biography:http://www.notablebiographies.com/A-An/Ailey-Alvin.html
Ailey Documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiHZOdrea0c&feature=fvwrel
Ailey School: http://www.alvinailey.org/
Videos:
Revelations section #1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce5pQkUZdWI
Section #2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_emeASlSa2E&feature=related
Section #3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT8SX35m0lU&feature=related


Competency: http://online.howtomaster.com/training/html/itc2/itc20201/page1.html